Simon says today is ‘The Onion Day’

Praising The Onion for uniting its business and editorial operations in Chicago, Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon has declared today “The Onion Day” to celebrate the digital media company’s consolidation of its headquarters in Illinois.

Formerly based in Madison, Wis., with its editorial staff headquartered in New York City, The Onion consolidated its media operations in Chicago this month, which will include a new studio for digital video production.

The Onion, along with its sister publication The A.V. Club, will house approximately 100 employees in its new offices and studio in River North in October.

“No matter how you slice it, The Onion brings tears to my eyes,” Simon said. “From its spot-on satire of our politics, to its use of our web video tax credit, The Onion shows that Illinois is a great place to do business and that Chicago is a great comedy town. We encourage other digital media companies to make us their first choice for their international headquarters.”

An additional selling point, Simon added, is that “Chicago” loosely translates from the Native American Potowatami language as “wild onion” or “native garlic.”

The Onion is the self-proclaimed “biggest, most powerful, most terrifying and most influential media company in the civilized world.” The company says it has an audience of approximately 3 billion people worldwide across its various media platforms.

Founded by two University of Wisconsin-Madison students in 1988, The Onion is published and/or broadcast in 87 different languages in 159 countries.